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Jimenez suffered serious, possibly irreversible, brain damage from two gunshot wounds to his head. He may never be able to work again. His $6-an-hour job supported his wife and four young children. Now, the hard-working, religious 30-year-old may need a permanent caretaker.

"The person who shot him not only hurt a wonderful man," said Angela Abeyta, a close family friend, "an entire family was hurt by this. His wife and their children will feel this pain for years to come. . . . Because of what happened that night, six lives will never be the same."

Back from brink of death

After the shooting, Jimenez was conscious but could not speak. He later lost consciousness and it appeared he would not live. His family prayed. The swelling in his brain receded. His condition improved. He regained consciousness.

However, he remains partially paralyzed. He suffered severe memory and cognitive loss. He has difficulty with many basic functions, including speech. One of the bullets also tore through his intestines, damaging his colon so badly that he had to have a colostomy.

"It's like he's a different person," Abeyta said. "He might never be who he was. He might be permanently disabled. . . . Now his wife has another person to take care of. She has to teach him everything all over again."

Jimenez has gradually regained some of his faculties. But he remains paralyzed throughout most of the left side of his body.

He doesn't have health insurance, although he would have been eligible to join his company's if he had worked two more months.

"I have no idea what we're going to do," said Julie Jimenez. "It's hard. We had so many plans. Now, we're starting all over . . . I can't make any plans. We just have to go through one day at a time."

Like many other immigrants from Mexico, Jimenez came to the United States 15 years ago seeking a better life and met his wife shortly after, his family said. The couple had their first child a dozen years ago. Although he was raising four kids on a tight budget, he was very happy.

"He loved to spend time with his children," Julie Jimenez said. "It's tough for us to see him like this."

Now his children are traumatized. His two youngest daughters who are nearly 2 and 3 cannot comprehend what happened to their father. His 7-year-old daughter is afraid to go to school.

"We thought he was going to die," Abeyta said. "His family thought he would be gone forever. As of Feb. 26 he would have been there one year and would have been eligible for health insurance."

Julie Jimenez became so concerned that the mugger would track down the family through her husband's stolen wallet that she moved the family.

Her fear contrasted with the approach of her husband before he was shot. Although the family resided in a high-crime area near Third Street in Hunters Point, Jimenez wasn't afraid.

"He never thought something like this would happen to him," Abeyta said. "He was always trusting. Always wanted to see the best in people. He always saw what was good."

The case, referred to by police as the Christmas Eve shooting, is baffling for cops. Jimenez and his assailant may be the only ones who saw what happened that night. And Jimenez has no memory of the incident.

Investigators have no witnesses, no suspect and no clues other than the bullets in Jimenez's head. The robber got away without a trace.

"Unfortunately we have not received any leads or any information which would lead us to the suspect who shot" Jimenez, Inspector William Canning wrote in a Feb. 16 letter to the family.

"We just don't have that much to work with," Canning said in a later interview. "It was basically just the bad guy and the victim. . . . Here he is working a $6 an hour job to support his wife and two kids and some low-life goes and shoots him."

The Police Department has established a fund for Jimenez and his family.

"It's a very tragic story," said Officer Sherman Ackerson, Police Department spokesman. "We feel very bad for how this man and family have suffered. We'd like to help the family in any way we can."

Anyone with information in the case can contact Canning at (415) 553-9180 or 553-1071. Those interested in helping the family can call Angela Abeyta at (415) 239-2301 or send donations to The Jimenez Family Fund (Account 60053038691), Bayview Federal Savings and Loan 4947 Third St., San Francisco, CA 94124-0239.&lt;